This process, which political scientists call “realignment,” took a few decades to play out completely, and in some places, particularly where union membership had been strong, it took longer than in others. It can be seen most vividly in West Virginia, which is politically unique in many ways; like much of the South, it retained an affection for the Democratic Party as a legacy of the Civil War era, but unlike other southern states, it is almost entirely White and native born.
